Media and Politics in Ethiopia Final - Copy2 and Politics in... · The political history of Ethiopia demonstrates that the country has undergone a lot ... According to Marcus

MEDIA AND POLITICS IN ETHIOPIA...

Ethiop.j.soc.lang.stud. Vol. 1 No.2 December 2014

74

Review

Media and Politics in Ethiopia: A Critical Analysis

Nigussie Meshesha 1

Nigussie Meshesha (2014). Media and Politics in Ethiopia: A Critical Analysis.

Ethiop.j.soc.lang.stud. 1(2), 74-95. eISSN: 2408-9532

Abstract

The paper aimed at analyzing the political discourse and dynamics of the

Ethiopian media in the last three regimes. To this end, scholarly works such as books,

articles and other sources in the area of media (print and electronics)2 and politics were

reviewed. Discourse analysis was applied to examine the various debates of the media

practices and politics in Ethiopia. The study revealed that media and politics in Ethiopia

are highly intertwined. The political history of the nation throughout all periods has

dictated the development of Ethiopian media. The media has served wishes and whims of

those on power. During the incumbent government, however, some improvements have

been discerned with the introduction of dual ownership system for the first time in the

nation’s history, but overall working condition is debatable. The professionalism of

journalists, media management and organization and independence of the media need to

be improved. Mainly, the analysis indicates that the media must be run by an independent

media council and should exercise self regulation.

Keywords: Democracy /Freedom/ Government/ Media/ Opposition /Private

1. Introduction

1.1 Background to the Study

The political history of Ethiopia demonstrates that the country has undergone a lot

of social, cultural, religious, and economic changes that have witnessed its present level

of development. The country is said to be one of the pioneers of world civilization

having more than 3000 years of history (Harold, 2006). Besides, Ethiopia is the cradle or

origin of human beings as archeological studies demonstrate. According to Marcus

(2002, p.1), the archeological findings in Ethiopia reveal that the country is the origin of

human ancestors as it is marked with the foundation of the human fossil called “Lucy”, or

“Dinknesh”, which means “wonderful” in Amharic language, and scientifically known as

Australopithecus afarensis of relatively young hominid woman, found in 1974 and dates

back to almost four million years. In addition to the foundations of Lucy, later findings

also proved that Ethiopia is the origin of human species.

1 Assistant Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, Dean, College of Social Sciences and Humanities,

Hawassa University.

2 The study emphasizes on the history of print media (often referred as press), due to low development and expansion of electronic

media in Ethiopia, as compared to the print media.



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Moreover, according to Adeuumobi (2007, p.1), “Ethiopia’s history stretches

back to antiquity, with references to Ethiopia in the Bible and classical Greek literature”.

Similarly, Henze (2001) expresses that the country has a very long history. Bahru and

Pausewang (2002) mention Ethiopia as one of the pioneers of the world civilization

saying that “The first recorded kingdom in Ethiopia grew around Axum during the 3rd

century BC. Axum was an offshoot of the Semitic Sabean kingdoms of southern Arabia.

This is also further elaborated by Pankhrust (1999, p.4)who said: “The history of Ethiopia

had gone long years back even before Frumentius, a Christian youth from Syria bound

for India, [who ] was shipwrecked off the Ethiopian coast, around 330AD,” . This then

brought the conversion of “Aksumite realm to Christianity. Besides, according to

Kefyalew (1999) Ethiopian long time history can be also traced in the writing of

Herodotus (400-300 BC), who is the renowned ancient Greek philosopher.

Additionally, Ethiopia was one of the world’s powers and had long contact with

the territory to the Indian Ocean during the period of Axumite civilization before 3rd

millennium BC. The Ethiopian Civilization reached its peak during the Axumite

Civilization. Then Ethiopia was the trade-center for Europe, the Middle East and Asia,

and Red Sea was the major route. Furthermore, during Emperor Ezana (325AD),

Ethiopia controlled many areas including today’s Yemen, Saudi Arabia, South Asia to the

Madagascar and parts of Nubia of the present Sudan ( Henze, 2001, p.20).

The country’s political, cultural and religious revival were witnessed in the period

right after the reign of Atse or Emperor Lalilbella (is also called Saint Lalibella ), around

1150, who built the eleven Rock Hewen Churches made of a single rock. This marked

the political stability and revival of the political administration. There were so many

political successors who succeeded Emperor Lalibela to the time of Zemen Mesafint/ Era

of Princess/ (1840-1855), and to the time of Emperor Tewdros (Marcus, 2002). On the other hand, regarding the historical development of the media, which is

also often referred as press, in Ethiopia, it is possible to argue and to trace back its

beginning to the early years of Christianity when Geez3 became the dominant medium.

Getachew (2003, p. 562) says that the written form of communication is said to be started

when the Geez alphabet came into being as early as the 4th

century of the Axumite era.

Then Geez became the medium of politics, culture and religion.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The history of media in Ethiopia can be most likely traced back to the time of

ancient kings who started using the awaj negari, that is to say news announcer. The

religious and non-religious publications as well as the different historical and religious

writings on parchment may mark the beginning of early press in Ethiopia. Formally,

however, modern press in Ethiopia is said to be started during the time of Emperor

Menelik II. Afterwards, the media in Ethiopia has gone through a lot of challenges under

the authoritarian governments of the past who used the media for fulfilling their wishes

3 Geez is one of the descendents of the Sabean language (one of the Semitic languages) and mother for

Amharic language.



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and whims. That means, the past governments have been said to muzzle the press for

their parochial interests, and consequently, the freedom of the press on the one hand and

the people’s right to free expression on the other were curtailed. Gudeta (2008) says that

the media was used only for satisfying the wishes and whims of governments. It was

only used for disseminating government agenda (Tikikel, 2007) and was authoritarian

(Getachew, 2003).

In the present government, however, there have been good improvements in

introducing dual ownership system (Gudeta, 2008), contextualizing press freedom and

making further media declarations like Press Declaration 1992, Access to Media

Declaration 2007, and Broadcasting Declaration 2009 (Nigussie, 2011). Nevertheless,

there are problems with regard to journalists intimidation and imprisonments (Mariegu,

2000; Ellene, Mesfin & Alemayehu, 2003). According to Birhane (2002), the media has

been used as a means to propagate government agenda. There is also polarization of

media where the private media often negates the development efforts of the government

and the government media mostly cover favorable news about its activities (Nigussie,

2011). To the researcher’s knowledge, however, the aforementioned as well as other

studies have not investigated the dynamics of media and politics and how the media has

upheld democracy in Ethiopia. Hence, the present study, through evaluating the political

dynamics and discourses of the media in the country, demonstrates the interplay between

media and politics.

1.3 Main Objective of the Study

The main objective of the study was to critically examine the dynamics of

media and politics, the discourses related to the practice of media, and the challenges and

prospects of the media in Ethiopia.

1.4 Specific objectives

The specific objectives of the study are

1. to examine the historical development of the media in three consecutive

governments of Ethiopia

2. to evaluate the political discourses related to the activities of the media in

Ethiopia, and

3. to identify the challenges and prospects of the media development in Ethiopia

2. Theoretical Framework

Importance of media. In today’s politics, the study of mass media cannot be seen

independent of the democratic process of countries. Media, particularly free media, is

characterized from its “being more participative, more oriented toward the popular, more

event centered and timely, and more objective and less partisan” (Grossberg, Wartella &

Whitney, 1998, pp. 324-25). So, the media, as the means to political deliberation, should



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become public forum and should be geared towards performing these salient functions by

providing accurate information. Jarvis and Han (2009, p.749) underscored on the

importance of media in the public sphere as it is a means to facilitate political

communication by exchanging “information between a nation’s leadership, the media,

and the citizenry”. Hence, media is the life heart of a government as it becomes an

intermediary power between the executives, the legislators and the judiciary. It has been

enjoying the role of playing a part to check and balance the power in the advanced

democratic nations.

Media Control. According to Freedom House survey of media freedom, while 75

countries had media systems that could be classified as free, 50 had partly free media,

and 61 were not free, and 111 countries still have media systems that are either partly free

or not free (Sussman & Karlekar, 2002). This survey indicates that the degree of press

freedom does vary depending on the nature of political systems. However, in many

developing countries governments control media and the control can extend itself to

editorial content. A World Press Survey conducted in 1999 by Freedom House (or

Sussman) reported that in many regions of the world press freedom was hampered by

unprofessional journalists and partisan control of the media. In these countries media are

firmly monitored and controlled through overt and covert means by political or

government forces. The Freedom House survey had found that “the muzzling of

journalists was increasingly accomplished by more subtle, legalistic methods than

through violence or outright repression” (p. 1).

Freedom of Expression and Democracy. Graber (1989: 27) puts “ In democratic

societies official control of the content of mass media is deemed unnecessary.” This is

because it is believed that tight control of the media can deter the freedom of expression

which is the key for the flourishing of democracy. Thus, “Entry to the mass media

business is open to people representing a wide spectrum of political views” accepting that

the mass media becomes the fountain of ideas and enables public participation. This

enhances competition among the channels, that is, newspapers, magazines, radio and

television where each media generates various viewpoints. “If some media attack the

government, other media will support it. Positive and negative as well as right and wrong

information will somehow balance out”. This implies that “government by the people” is

the function of the right to make one voices heard.

The factors that mainly affect media freedom are both the political and economic

levels of a country. In countries where appropriate policy framework is not created and

the economic system is not conducive, the editorial freedom may be curtailed. Based on a

study conducted in 134 nations, Weaver, Buddenbaum, and Fair (1985) concluded that

“the stronger the media are economically, the less likely the government is to control

these media” (p. 113). The strength of the media can also be affected by the existing

policy as well.

3. Methods and Materials

This study is a critical analysis of the political discourses and dynamics of the media

in Ethiopia. The study examined in detail the history of media or press in the country in

successive governments. For this purpose, the Constitution of Ethiopia, the writings of

media and political critics, government policy, various books and documents, research



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and scholarly works in the area of media or press, democracy and/or politics, in Ethiopia

have been reviewed and carefully studied. Discourse analysis was applied to examine

the various debates of the media practices and politics in Ethiopia.

4. Analysis

4.1 Analysis of Media and Politics in Ethiopia

There are a lot of debates made about the commencement and development of

media in Ethiopia. Many scholars may argue that the media in Ethiopia has not grown to

the desired level. It is claimed that though Ethiopia has long years of history which

stretches back to antiquity, the political history of the nation over different periods has

been characterized as unstable. The media in Ethiopia, consequently, may have gone

through the political twists and turns. For the purpose of this study, with regard to the

political dynamics of the nation, the researcher would like to classify the media in

Ethiopia into three phases: early media, birth of modern media and the development of

modern media. The time of classification is based on the overall situation of the media

which came along with the relative changes in the political dynamics of the nation.

Besides, this section analyses the political discourses regarding the activities of the media

and the challenges of media and politics in Ethiopia.

4.1.1 The political dynamics of early media and international influence in Ethiopia

Early broadcast and print media. Generally, it would be possible to say that the

media in Ethiopia is the by-product of national and international politics. As far as early

press is concerned, Ethiopia might be one of the countries which have enjoyed early

fruits of the printing press, as there were indications for the modern media or press to

come into existence in the beginning of the 17th

century.

Most scholars (e.g. Getachew, 2003) often argue the beginning of the press is

associated with the time of emperor Menelik II. However, the researcher would like to

argue that the beginning of the press should not be restricted to the reign of emperor

Menelik II. If press or media refers only to newspapers, the case may work true, but

apart from that, if the press refers to pamphlets and books, the case would be different.

Even it would be possible to say that the history of press, if it refers to books, unlike to

what Getachew (2003) and some local literary scholars indicate, dated back to the time of

early writing on parchment for both religious and non-religious purposes. Mainly,

religious writings could be traced to the time of Siant Yared in the 5th

Century (Kefyalew,

1999).

As evidence, for example, according to Gaspirani, who is cited in the book

‘Ethiopian History’4, there were many writings in Geez, which is a descendent of Sabean

language. Another source stated that there were many writings published in Geez

language, which became medium of education (Kefyalew, 1999). Particularly the law

and proclamations of the time were written [in Geez] to reach the mass. Gasparani (n.d)

said Geez had helped the country to be more advanced. Before the use of modern writing

4 An Amharic version, undated.



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system, for example, the ancient kings such as Ezana, who heralded the Orthodox church

around 325 A.D (Pankhrust, 1999), Saint Yared in 500 A.D, the Philosopher King

Zaraya Yacob in 14th

century (Kefyalew,1999), and, may be, all later kings, used Geez

writings on parchment. Moreover, the kings used to communicate through the awaj

negari, news broadcaster, or literally means ‘proclamation announcer’. That is to say,

they used to announce news using drum and stick as a medium. The church also used

paintings and writings to announce church news. These all mark the beginning of early

broadcast and print media in Ethiopia (Nigussie, 2011).

Introduction of printing press. According to Ellene, Mesfin and Alemayehu

(2003) and Gaspirani (n.d), Ethiopia’s long years contact with Europe, except during

some years of disconnection in the Dark Age, has helped the country to have diplomatic

relations with some countries. This in turn has helped the introduction of the first printing

press.

The first international attempt to introduce printing machine to Ethiopia5 could be

traced back to the 16th

century. It was introduced by early missionaries who had come to

Ethiopia, but was confined to the ports of the country because of internal oppositions

(Ellene, Mesfin & Alemayehu, 2003).

According to Verghese (2007, p.1), the introduction of the printing press was a

“happy incident” and witnessed that the printing press in India was the one to be taken to

Ethiopia by western missionaries. However, since the crew encountered opposition from

the then Ethiopian king, they were not able to push into the interior, and then the printing

press was ported to Goa, India. Here it is explained that

… pressure was put on Portugal by Francis Xavier to dispatch printing presses to India,

Ethiopia and Japan. Meanwhile, the Emperor of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) requested the king

of Portugal to send a press along with the missionaries. Thus, the first batch of Jesuit

missionaries left for Ethiopia on March 29, 1556. En route, they arrived in Goa on

September 6, 1556. But, while they were preparing to proceed to Ethiopia, news reached

them that the Ethiopian Emperor was not keen to receive the missionaries.

Moreover, as some sources indicate, there was an attempt to bring the modern

printing machine to Ethiopia by the Catholic missionaries around 1550 from Portugal.

But with the death of the crew leader who ported the printing machine from Europe, the

machine was left where he died, at Goa, which was located in the west of India (Murthy,

1997). Murthy says the first printing machine in India is the one to be taken to Ethiopia,

which was formerly called Abyssinia.

Here it would be likely to argue that Ethiopia might have enjoyed the early fruits

of the invention of the printing press. Indeed, with the urge to the introduction of

Catholicism, the missionaries in the seventeen century had made a lot of attempts to

publish different religious books including the Holy Bible by bringing the printing

machine at the red Sea. However, with the great challenge they faced from the then

government, they hardly succeeded. The then government new, from history, that

inviting foreigners would expose the country to invaders. For instance, the reason for the

dethronement of “Atse” Susenyos (King Susenyos) was his conversion into Catholicism

from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Then, eight thousand peasants died in the

rebellion. In connection to this, Tanzanian Odessey presents Ethiopia’s resistance of the

5 Also to Japan



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coming of the missionaries along with their printing press which was highly interwoven

with the history of the country in defending its territory. An attempt had been made by

foreigners to invade Ethiopia or then Abyssinia, later became the cause for the nation to

object any foreign intervention.

During the 15th century with the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, Ethiopian fortunes

were reversed. The Turks who succeeded the Mamelukes in Egypt supported the Muslim

kingdoms providing both firearms and artillery; the only thing that saved the Christian

empire from collapse was the Portuguese. In 1542 as a result of this, missionaries from

Portugal attempted to persuade the Ethiopians to accept the Pope in Rome as the leader

of the Church.

Here the attempt under the disguise of religion was to make political pacification

with the aim to expand Portuguese political sphere of influence in Africa as one of the

early colonizers of Africa. Catholicism was much propagated with the help of the press

of the period. The conversion of Emperor Susenyos might be related to this (Gaspirano,

1950s). Later, as writings by Debtra Zeneb and other scholars of the time may indicate,

the press was mostly used as the mainstream to the politics of the day.

4.1.2 Birth of modern media and political dynamics in Ethiopia

According to the forgoing argument, the history of early media began before

Menelik II came to power. However, as far as the history of modern media is concerned,

it is associated to the era of Minelik II. For example, Ellene, Mesfin and Alemayehu

(2003) argued that the first newspaper was started being published in 1890 with the

coming of a four page weekly newspaper named “Aemero”, which means “intelligence”.

Its publisher, Andreas Kavadias, a Greek businessman, used to publish and distribute it in

Addis Ababa. The newspaper was the first of its kind to appear in Amharic and was

hand-written. Later on, Kavadias obtained a polygraph machine and raised the paper’s

circulation to 200.” The flag of the newspaper then was given by the emperor to show

the desire of the king for knowledge or the development of the country.

Fifteen years after Aemero appeared (in 1905), Le Semaine d’Ethiopie (‘The

Ethiopian Weekly’) appeared in French. Later, in the late 19th century, when the

European countries ran for scrambling Africa around 1884, Italian colonizers made an

attempt to colonize Ethiopia. In relation to this, the Italians published and dispatched war

news as a means to propagate Italian fascism. Italy waged war on Ethiopia and the

aggressor was defeated at the battle of Adowa in 1896. Since Italy didn’t refrain itself

from its colonial agenda, no matter how the bloody defeat it faced, it started to produce

propaganda on Ethiopia by publishing an Amharic newspaper, Yetor Wore (War News)

for propagating fascist news in 1915 during World War I ( Ellene, Mesfin & Alemayehu,

2003).

Later, as Getachew (2003) and Ellene, Mesfin and Alemayehu (2003) argue, the

Italian five years occupation of Ethiopia (1936-1940) during World War II has its own

influence in the development of the media in Ethiopia though it was used to propagate

fascist ideology. It was mainly meant to terrorize compatriots who opposed and fought



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the fascist power. Consequently, the fascists banned the local press and took it out of the

political scene.

4.1.3 The political dynamics of the media in the last three regimes of Ethiopia

This phase can be taken as the third stage in the overall development of the

media/press in Ethiopia. It is relatively a modern period which lasts from 1941- to the

present time, the time this manuscript is published. Hence, the following analysis is

made by examining each political period: Hailiselassie, Derg, and EPRDF.

4.1.3.1 The political dynamics of the media during Hailiselassie I regime

Menelik’s attempt to modernize the country was further strengthened by his

successor, imperial Haileselasie I. As compared to the preceding governments, the

Ethiopian Press got its real growth during this reign. As part of Haileselasie’s endeavor,

the media in this regime had grown to a better position–– a number of newspapers came

into existence. One contributing factor for a publication of a number of news papers is

the establishment of Berhanena Selam (Light and Peace) Printing Press in 1923 by the

king. This was a good leap forward in the history of press and politics in the country.

The other contributing factor for the real development of the press during the

reign of Haileselasie is Italians occupation of the country for five years. This period has

its own contribution for the development of modern press in Ethiopia. Then, some

newspapers were being published and radio programs were being broadcasted, by Italian

fascists in Ethiopia, to propagate their war in Ethiopia and about the Second World War.

During the post Italian occupation or WWII and after that, a number of press

related developments were observed. Addis Zemen (New Era) appeared in Amharic on

May 5th, 194,1 and later in 1942, the Press and Information Department was established

under the then Ministry of Pen. In the same year, while Sendek Alamachin (Our Flag)

appeared in Amharic and Arabic, the Negarit Gazeta appeared in Amharic and English.

In the following year, in 1943, The Ethiopian Herald started as a weekly English

newspaper. Ye-Eritrea Demts (The Voice of Eritrea) was being published in Amharic

and Tigrinya by the Ethio-Eritrean Unionist Association. In 1946, the two monthly

papers, Ethiopian Review (in English) and Berhanena Selam (in Amharic) were

published. In 1947, major press development took place in Ethiopia and three

newspapers: Zena Bete Kristyan( News of the Churches ), Nuro Bezeday ( living

Wisely), Tekle Haimanot ( Saint Tekle Haimanot ) and one English Newspaper– the

Daily News Bulletin ( Ellene, Mesfin & Alemayehu, 2003)– came into being.

In 1950, Alemena Tebeb (The World and Wisdom), in Amharic, and Progress

Economique, in Amharic and French, were launched. In 1952, L’Ethiopie

d’Audjourd’hui (Ethiopia Today) was started in Amharic and French. At the same time,

the Amharic counterpart of the English Daily News Bulletin also came into being. The

Amharic Yezareyitu Etyopia (Ethiopia Today) also appeared in 1952. The Ethiopian

Herald and Addis Zemen became dailies by the end of 1958, and they were being



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published under the then Ministry of Information. Ye-Ethiopia Demits (the Voice of

Ethiopia) reemerged in 1958.

The post Italian occupation was also the land mark in the flourishing of other

press. The several quarterly and yearly departmental journals and publications such as the

State Bank of Ethiopia, Ministry of Education, Commerce and Industry etc. came into

existence. Magazines were also published during this period. Some of the monthly

magazines published during this time were: The Ethiopian Mirror (English), Menen (one

each in English and Amharic), Addis Reporter (English) and others which were published

by the Ministry of Information, and Tewahedo (by Ethiopian Orthodox Church), Berhan

(by Ethiopian Evangelical Church), Azeb (by the Ethiopian Women Welfare Association/

EWWA), and Ethiopia Observer (published in Ethiopia and Britain and edited by Sylvia

Pankhurst, and others), according to Ellene, Mesfin and Alemayehu (2003).

In general, the press in the imperial regime really grew, but it had less public

outreaching due to poor infrastructure, very low level of literacy, and the inadequate

number of the copies of the newspapers. Most of the products of the press were

accessible mainly for royal class, elites and literate city dwellers. Though the press was

meant to grow at least in content (Yosef, 2005), it had a delimited content which focused

mostly on the royal family and the king (Getachew, 2003), and expressed simply the

whims and wishes of the king (Gudeta, 2009).

4.1.3.2 The political dynamics of the media during Derg

The ‘Political Revolution’ of 1974 that brought the dethronement of Hailsellasie

put the country into an absolute political turmoil. In fact, the military government

became somehow stable right after the political crisis which started in 1974 and ended in

1977 claiming the lives of many citizens, especially many officials and war generals.

During this regime media was used mainly for propaganda. Endalkachew and

Senait , who are cited in Yosef (2005, pp. 38-39), read: “[During] the early days of the

revolution, even if it could not last long, the press was used as a platform for relatively

open discussion… However, in short period of time, the regime changed the landscape of

the Ethiopian press for good, and started to use the media primarily for propaganda

purposes and for the spread of socialist ideology.” Moreover, in its nationalization

programme, Derg nationalized privately owned large scale printing presses. The

government made a change of policy in 1987 as it introduced the Peoples Democratic

Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE). The new constitution made the provision of press law in

its article 47 and 67(20) as the government gives “the necessary materials and moral

support of the exercise of freedoms”. In fact, the freedom of the press was not indicated

clearly and it remained completely under the government control. The press was

characterized as the tool of propaganda of the government with the total involvement of

the government from its ‘inception’ (Senait, 2000).

As www.MassMediaDistribution.com presents, the military government solely

owned the press in the country. When narrating about the nature of the government:



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Derg member Major Mengistu Haile Mariam established his own leadership

within that organization in February 1974 via a shootout between his followers

and those of his main rival, Tafari Banti, who died in the fighting; following this,

Mengistu declared himself chairman and began his military rule over the country

by 1974. During the 17 years of Mengistu's rule, the government-and party-

owned publications Meskerem ("September"), Serto Ader,(“Proletariat”) and the

pre-Derg Yezareyitu Ethiopia ("Ethiopia Today") were published in addition to

the previously mentioned Addis Zemen and the Ethiopian Herald.

This would mark how the socialist military government was tyrannical and the

freedom of press and expression was highly curtailed. The imperial government of

Emperor Haile Selassie I, who ruled the country for half a century from 1923-1974, had

relatively many newspapers as compared to Mengistu’s regime. During the military

government, the works of the newspapers had socialistic orientations and, as a result, they

were the forerunners of the socialistic ideology. It was completely unthinkable to have

private press in the period because everything was owned by the government. The

government’s major agenda was to nationalize the privately owned business and the

printing press and to build socialist democratic Ethiopia after dethroning the imperial

government. After dethroning the former regime, consequently, it confiscated any press

outlet and put under its control. The government took the slogan of ‘Ethiopia Tekidem

Yaleminim Dem’ (Let Ethiopia move forward without bloodshed) to denote the peaceful

transition of power after the February 1974 revolution. Then the new government was

formed on September 12 (Meskerem 2).

The new government, consequently, became an absolute dictator because it

couldn’t promote public participation and didn’t opt for free press ( Getachew, 2003).

Censorship was severely practiced (Ellene, Mesfin & Alemayehu, 2003) and the freedom

of the press was curtailed (Gebremedhin, 2006). There were only the government’s

outlets (Nigussie, 2011).

The government was publishing presses that emerged during the time of Derg and

pre-Derg. It was publishing a magazine called ‘Meskerem’("September") that marks the

revolution day and a newspaper called Serto Ader(" Proletariat "), which was meant to

pronounce the sovereignty of the proletariat. Additionally, the Dergu continued to

publish Addis Zemen (the Ethiopian Herald), and Yezareyitu Ethiopia ("Ethiopia

Today"), which came into being in the imperia period. These presses then became the

mouth piece of the government (Gudeta, 2006).

4.1.3.3 The political dynamics of the media during the post 1990s

The Constitution vs freedom of press. As far as the current government, Ethiopian

Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), is concerned, the freedom of press

in Ethiopia has been put in the constitutional frame for the first time in the nation’s

history (Nigussie, 2011). The constitutionaliszation of the freedom of the press is a good

step forward in the democratization process of the country. In fact, Article 29, number 2

and 3 of the constitution, assures the freedom of press in Ethiopia and it goes on saying



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that “Freedom of the press and mass media as well as freedom of artistic creation is

guaranteed. The media shall be granted institutional independence and legal protection to

enable it to accommodate different opinions and ensure the free flow of information,

ideas and opinions” which is believed to be the corner stone for the flourishing of

democracy (Ethiopian Constitution, 1995). Even though the EPRDF government

heralded the coming of the private press, the private press works under a political

pressure. According to Democratic System Building in Ethiopia (2001), there are a lot of

things to be done for the full independence of media from the government’s control. The

press law in the country is still with much litigation and debate. There have been a lot of

bargaining issues about its legal framework. For example, regarding Ethiopia’s draft

proclamation of press freedom, Buckley et al. (2008, p. 343) criticize:

overbroad in terms of its scope, includes problematic restrictions on who may practice

journalism, and provides for a government-controlled licensing system for media outlets.

Also, the draft law provides for restrictions on access to information held by public

authorities and broadcasting and publication content restrictions. It further provides for

the establishment of a government-controlled Press Council with powers to prepare and

enforce a code of ethics, powers vested in the prosecutor to suspend media outlets, and a

harsh sanctions regime.

In connection to the freedom of press, Gebremedhin (2006, p.31) also explains

that “although the Ethiopian Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and media

freedom, the relevant laws regulating media operation are still in the process of

finalization, leaving much uncertainty about the broadcast and newspaper environments.”

Similarly, some critics argue that the 2008 Access to Media Declaration and the 2009

Broadcasting Regulation may limit the extent to which the freedom of speech and

expression is practiced in the country.

Earlier, the attempt made by the government was quite acceptable as it set the

democratic constitution that presumed to give ethnic, cultural, religious, political and

economical equality though it later changed its face, according to Abbink (2006).

Abbink (2006, p.3) states: “There is no doubt that post 1991 Ethiopia saw significant

political institution building and that a public ethos of democracy emerged”. But Abbink

argues the process has suffered from durable constraints within the political system.

Problem of bias. The media was also criticized for being full of government’s

news as the fashion of the day. In my (the researcher’s) view, the press in Ethiopia

should work towards serving the public interest by becoming a change agent rather than

being simply the mouth piece of the government as liberalists and democratic participant

theoreticians probably argue. It must be impartial and critical to cover government

activities. Mairegu (2000, p.132) also criticizes the function of the media saying: “the

state-owned media became simply the propaganda machinery of the new government,

launching violent verbal attacks on those political or ethnic groups that are ill favored by

the ruling circle”.

As far as the private media is concerned, generally, it seems to take

antigovernment position, and as it is said, the private media has been owned or sponsored

by opposition groups or some other vested interests ( MoI, 2012). Consequently, there



85

are wars of words (Mairegu, 2000) or verbal attacks from those who have owned private

press ( Birhane, 2002). Verbal attacks are either libel (written defamation) or slander

(oral defamation), which is against media law (Pember, 2003).

It is expected, nevertheless, that the media should be free from political bias since

this is against constitutional right where the Ethiopian Constitution (1995:89) ensures the

media should “entertain diverse opinions ” instead of indoctrinating one side’s view. In

fact, taking position seems to be common in both types of media. The media, therefore,

must be free from “providing sustenance for one set of interests while undermining an

alternative” (Street, 2001, p.16).

Types of media: Television, Radio, and Press. With regard to television, when this

study was under analysis, there was only one state-owned TV station, which operates,

with a limited hour of broadcast, covering around half the land size of the country, but

recently new channels are on the way to be launched by regional states media agencies

like that of Amhara Mass Media Agency, Oromiya Mass Media Agency, Addis Ababa

Mass Media Agency, SNNPRs Radio and Television Agency and others. Very recently,

the Ethiopian Television started to broadcast its programs in three channels: ETV1,

ETV2 and ETV3. This is a good progress at least in the entertainment, but lags much

behind. The government also seems to work towards having its own satellite channels by

distributing “Set Top Box”. This government’s effort, however, can be hampered by low

level of professional competence, degree of readiness to diversify programs and the

capacity to compete with foreign media.

The other television station is run by Educational Media Agency (EMA) for

educational purpose. Despite the proclamation to liberalize the media, there is no one

private television station. Perhaps, the current renaming of ETV as Ethiopian

Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) and the subsequent attempt to kick off media council,

according to The Reporter (2014), would bring a new momentum in the overall

functioning of the media in the nation.

Radio. The radio has been also solely owned by the government, and it

broadcasts in Amharic, Afan Oromo, Tigrigna, Somaligna, Afargna, English, and French.

There are some FM commercial radios, but they are also controlled by the national and

regional governments. The Ethiopian radio, which broadcasts in Amharic, Afaan Oromo,

Afari, Agnuaak, Nuer, Somali and Tigrigna languages, is the major government news

media. It also broadcasts using English, French and Arabic as external service. The FM

commercial radios like FM which have sprang up in Addis Ababa has limited scope and

mostly focused on entertainment and advertisements. Moreover, some FM radios like

FM Addis, Radio Fana, FMs with different sound waves are being scaled up in some

areas to reach the large public. Some community radios are also found in Harar,

Yirgalem, Hawassa and Jimma where some are run by city governments like the case of

Jimma and by universities like Hawassa University and Haromaya University FMs.

Some FMs, like that of Bahirdar University’s, are on the way to move towards the

aforementioned ones.

The print media. The print media, on the other hand, to a certain extent, has been

owned by the private, but unsatisfying. Most of the newspapers have been weekly and



86

political in nature. Of these newspapers, Addis Zena (Fresh News), Addis Admas (New

Horizon), Satenaw (The Courageous), Netsanet (Freedom), Medina (The capital), Youth

City, Maheder (The Sheath), Mebreke (The lightening), Tomar, Ethiopi, Ethio-News, The

Press, The Reporter both Amharic and English version, Abay (Blue Nile), Nation, Tobia,

The Sun, Addis Tribune, Siefe Nebelbal (The Thunderbolt ), Addis Neger (which is

literally to mean something new), Tobia, Ruh and others have been among the major

ones.

Again, there were weekly newspapers and magazines like Tsegereda (The Rose),

Kalkidan (The Promise), Fashion, Style, Medical, and others which were basically

entertainment and health matters newspapers. Sport newspapers were Libra, Atenna,

Inter-Sport, Sky Sport, Giorgis (St. George), etc. There have been also business

newspapers like Fortune, Capital, Entrepreneur and others. One of the limitations in my

opinion is that there are no national dailies except Addis Zemen and The Ethiopian

Herald, which were established during the period of the emperor.

Increase in number of private print media. With regard to the private press,

actually there have been developments, as references written almost a decade ago

indicate. According to Gebremedhin (2006, p.24), who quoted the Ministry of

Information, “there were 68 newspapers and magazines published and distributed in July

2006. This is an increase from five years ago (though figures for 2000 could not be

found). There are 56 newspapers and 12 magazines. Most papers are weeklies, bi-

weeklies and monthlies, with only three dailies, all national, in existence.” Besides, it is

also stated that “Many of the newspapers in recent years have been tabloid weeklies

responding to news events, such as the 2005 elections”. Though there are increases in the

number of the private press, it seems that the political presses are characterized by strong

verbal attacks (Maregu, 2000).

The language of print media. Different local and foreign languages are used for

publication. Most of the newspapers (e.g. Addis Zemen6), and magazines in the country

are published in the national language–– Amharic (Nigussie , 2011). Whereas other two,

The Ethiopian Herald and The Daily Monitor7 are published in English. There are

weeklies Al-Alem (in Arabic) and Barissa (in Afan Oromo) which are published (by the

government) under the Ethiopian Press Agency. Moreover, there were a number of

privately owned Amharic and English weekly newspapers though most of them came out

of the public sphere for political sedition and some other reasons.

Banning print media. Most private political presses, which came into being with

the emerging of new political parties during the establishment of the transitional

government of 1991, were epitomized as party organs. Among these, there were

newspapers and magazines, which were banned from publication. For example, a

privately owned newspaper named Eletawi Addis (The Daily News) went out of the

market during the political tension of the 2005 election. Similarly, Tobia and Ruh were

banned for their sensational coverage of the incumbent government’s politics and the

hostility developed with the government as they waged war of words on the party in

6 A national daily

7 Owened privately



87

power, or the antagonism developed from both sides (Maregu, 2000). In fact, they were

mostly politically instigated and they took extreme positions in criticizing the

government. However, the media8 is expected to give a balanced coverage of

information (EPRDF,1995). The intimidation of journalists (Berhane, 2002), the rise in

paper price, and the financial pressure due to paying large amount of money to renew a

license have forced some of the tabloids to be closed ( Getachew, 2003).

The rise and fall of private print media. Among the privately owned newspapers

some came in and out with elections while others continue working. The rise and fall of

the media particularly the private press implies the less matured state of the private

media, the periodic appearance of the newspapers along with elections, and the political

intolerance of the government to some extent.

To conclude this section, in the current regime (EPRDF), in fact, different

newspapers with diverse contents have appeared in large number. With the licensing of

the press and the declaration of the market economy, the private press, for the first time in

the political history of the nation, had started to become a new public sphere, though it

was limited to the city and few major cities (Nigussie, 2011).

Of course, introducing of the private press in the nation, I believe , is worth

telling. Survey of Culture and Media (2003, p.3) supports this view saying: “The

landmark event in the history of print media in Ethiopia began after the Ethiopian

Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) came to power in May 1991”.

Actually, according to Governance Profile of Ethiopia (2004, p.3), which is produced by

Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), “the present Ethiopian Government shares the

features of a democratic, federal state: adoption of a new constitution, introduction of a

multi-party system, and the holding of periodic elections.”

Furthermore, though it is debatable, many have argued that the press practice has

been in a continual improvement. The media has been taken as promoter of democracy

(Kifyalew, 2008) and liberated itself to some extent with the introduction of dual

ownership system no matter how it works under pressure (Birhane, 2002; Amnesty

International, 2005). The implication of all these is that a lot to be done to improve the

condition of the political system to create good governance in the country by fostering

public participation and vibrant media.

4.2 The Political Discourses Regarding the Activities of the Media in Ethiopia

This section tries to show the inexistence of independent media in Ethiopia

throughout all time. The press in Ethiopia is argued to be authoritarian (Mareigu, 2000)

and meant to serve only parochial interests; it is said to be an instrument of the ruling

class rather than becoming the voice of the public. The Press during the imperial regime

was targeted to satisfy the interest of the imperial Crown and Royalty (Getachew, 2003).

8 Currently, when this paper was being written, private media is more appropriately defined as print

media because there is no privately owned electronic media, except FMs, which offers alternative

programmes in Ethiopia.



88

Similarly, most of the political discourse of the Derg got its foundation on

socialistic orientation (Nigussie, 2011) where “socialistic government… knows and

represents the best interest of the people” (Graber, 1989, p. 22) and the media was the

forerunner of this socialistic ideology. Despite good media practices in the early days of

the revolution, which could not last long, the regime started using the media primarily for

the spread of socialist ideology (Yosef, 2005), yes for propaganda or political

indoctrination. The political discourse about the activities of the media during the Derg

can be said that the media was a waging tail of the government. It had no room for

private rights and freedom.

Regarding the current government (EPRDF), the political discourse has encircled

around the notion that the media becomes the promoter of democracy. Though the media

freedom was put in the constitutional frame under Article 29 of the Constitution, which

provides freedom of the press where every person has the right to seek, obtain and impart

information, and Press Proclamation No. 34/1992, which gives room for freedom of

press, the media cannot get its full independence in the democracy. The democratic

nature of the media has been objected according to Skjerdal (2011, p.70). He argues that

there is a “growing politicization of the Ethiopian state media”. Further, it shies to

criticize government. “But the test of democracy lies on the freedom of criticism” (Ross,

2010). Ross says: “while Ethiopia gains respect in the political scene, the government

struggles to justify its draconian control over the media”. Buckley et al. (2008, p. 343)

further criticizes the government’s controlled licensing system of media outlets, the

restrictions on access to information held by public authorities, broadcasting and

publication content restrictions, and the establishment of a government-controlled Press

Council. However, the government claims it uses the media as heralder of development

and democracy (Skjerdal, 2011). Though there are some encouraging changes in the

economic and political sphere of the Ethiopian government, media independence and

freedom, I believe, is still the homework for the government.

4.3 The Challenges to the Development of Media and Politics in Ethiopia

The major challenges of the media and political system in Ethiopia, the

researcher believes, are the result of multiple factors. First, the history of the media in

the country has been marked with the governments’ ownership all over time, despite

recent positive developments with the coming of current government in 1991.

Nevertheless, the media has mostly become loyal supporter and fan of those who own

them instead of serving public interest. I think the culture of azmari (traditional

enchanter or singer) and the patron relation in Ethiopia seem to have affected the media

culture to a greater extent where the media seems to be the sympathizer of only one party;

it favors’ the class that has power––like what the azmari does.

Besides, the government in Ethiopia controls the media for fear that it could be

used to incite rebellion as in other African, Asia and Latin American as well as in some

European countries. Birhane (2002) and Getachew ( 2003) also believe that the

government keeps an eye on the media because there is no confidence about the media’s

accountability.



89

Moreover, the limited distribution of newspapers coupled with the less

infrastructure access, has been the major challenge of the press in Ethiopia. For instance,

particularly, the print media, as they have been mostly limited in the capital, rarely reach

even in some major cities in the country. Furthermore, a limited financial source of the

organizations which publish newspapers has minimized the number of copies to address a

large number of readers all across the country. On top of that, most of the newspapers

are not accessible to the rural literate because of inadequacy of transportation facility and

lack of agents to distribute the newspapers.

Limited readership is the other challenge for the development of print press in

Ethiopia. Still, the growing rate of the cost of publication and the increase in the price of

paper as well as the lowest rate of literacy in the rural areas9 are said to be among the

major bottle necks that have limited readership of print media. Nevertheless, in the

period in which internet or online media has become part of the public sphere, the

readership of print media would decline. This is because though the access to internet

and the literacy level is still low, there is a tendency in which the literate may shift to

online media (Paul & Peter, 2003).

The other challenge in the media is the polarization of views. Most of the private

media have seemed to be organs of opposition parties. The private media is often

criticized (of course, some follow professional lines) for taking one side to criticize the

government, instead of being critical and impartial (Nigussie, 2011). According to

Nigussie there seems to be a greater difference in the coverage pattern of the media in

Ethiopia where the private mostly covers unfavorable issues about government and the

government press covers mostly favorable news. There seems to be a north-south

dichotomy between them.

Intimidating journalists and irregularities of private press are the other factors that

have hampered the development of media and politics in Ethiopia. It seems that,

according to Berhane (2002), the decline in the number of newspapers is attributed to the

arrest and intimidation of journalists and the limited number of independent private

newspapers, magazines and publishers. The MoI (2012), however, goes contrary to this

claiming that the number of privately owned newspapers dwindles because they often

emerge during political election and feather away when the election is over. In the

Constitution and press proclamations, embracing the press as the pursuit of fundamental

freedom, peace, democracy, justice, equality and for the acceleration of social and

economic development is actually a great leap forward for the freedom of press. But, on

the ground, the press has been suffering from professional competence, getting complete

independence from the government as well as financial incapability to invest in the

industry.

5. Discussion

The history of the press in Ethiopia can be traced back to the time of awaji negari

(news announcer), during the ancient kings. In ancient Ethiopia, the writings on walls

9 Although the radio has become the major source of news for rural citizens like most of the developing

countries, the availability of radio, its price and battery costs could be major determinants.



90

were indicators of the beginning of writing culture. These writings later on gave birth to

mass communication writings on parchment. Ethiopia, historically, is the one among

those used the printing press for the first time despite the fact that the first printing

press/machine, which was/were shipped to Ethiopia in the beginning of 16th

century from

Portuguese, was/were taken to India due to the refusal of Ethiopian king to take it into the

interior. As a result, the printing machine(s) was/were confined to the former ports of

Ethiopia at Massawa and Assab. Later, religious and non-religious writings were

published at these ports. As far as the modern press is concerned, it was introduced to

Ethiopia in the 1890, during Menelik II, but was only confined to Royal class. This has

continued until the Imperial Hailesellasie ascended to power.

The period of Imperial Hailesellasie I (1923-1974) had seen better time in the

number of media outlets, quality, and types. Then radio was introduced and the present

daily government newspapers Addis Zemen and The Ethiopia Herald, Yezaretu Ethiopia

and other newspapers came into picture. Though the press in this regime had grown to a

relatively better position, it was only accessible for those who were in the royal class and

the elites.

With regard to media during the military government, it was a major tool to

propagate the tyranny of the regime. The number of news newspapers during this regime

was fewer as compared to the imperial government of Emperor Haile Selassie I. During

the military government, the works of the newspapers had socialistic orientations and, as

a result, they were the vanguard of the socialistic ideology. It was completely

unthinkable to have private press during this period because everything was owned by the

government for public consumption. Hence, the freedom of press and expression was

highly curtailed. The study that supports this finding comes from Sussman and Karlekar

(2002) which indicates that in many developing countries governments control media and

the control could extend to editorial content.

During the incumbent government, the dual ownership system was introduced and

gave a window for airing of different views. This would be a prospect for having vibrant

media in the country if further positive measures such as creating independent media

council were taken. However, there has been a rise and fall of media outlets particularly

private print media.

Nevertheless, the sensational coverage of the media and waging war of words

with the party on power, and the antagonism developed from both sides, instead of

becoming a public forum of discussion and debate, have weaken the role of the media in

building the democracy. Similar finding is reported by Maregu (2000). In fact, the media

were mostly politically instigated and they took extreme positions in criticizing each

other. There are arguments in which journalists are intimidated and banned from

covering various issues. It is also argued that “bail money and the constant arrests and

imprisonment [of journalists] without charge”, lack of willingness of officials to give

information, and lack of the media coverage and access to information have affected the

media practice. This finding is confirmed by Ellene, Mesfin and Alemayehu (2003, p.11)

who said that seeking and imparting information without restraint from government

officials is not mostly materialized though the right of doing so was proclaimed in article

8 of the 1992 Press Declaration.



91

The financial pressure and the rise in paper price are other serious challenges in

the media practice and politics in Ethiopia. A study support this finding comes from

Getachew (2003, p. 4), who says: “paying large amount of money to renew a license has

forced some of the tabloids to close down”. The finding also confirms the conclusion

reached by Weaver, Buddenbaum, and Fair (1985): “the stronger the media are

economically, the less likely the government is to control these media” (p. 113).

The coming of satellite radio and television, and internet is both a challenge and a

prospect to the Ethiopian media and politics. The public by now has started to use

foreign satellite without subscription by simply purchasing dishes and receivers. So this

might jeopardize the media practice as there is tendency of cultural imperialism and

influences that come along with globalization. This might lead to political problem in the

country. Conversely, the coming of these digital media is also a prospect where citizens

can get better information access on one hand. The other prospects of the media practice

is that some of the private media are getting capacity and experience so that they would

become major sources of information.

6. Conclusion

Media and politics in Ethiopia are highly intertwined. Ethiopia has experienced

sharp twists and turns in its political history where the country has gone through the

imperial and semi-feudalistic regime followed by socialist military regime of the Derg to

the present evolving democracy. As a result of these twists and turns of the country’s

political situation, the development of the media has not gone so far.

In Ethiopia, the media has been highly shaped by the governments which ruled

over different periods. The past authoritarian governments have produced authoritarian

media which served as the mouth piece of its respective governments. In other words,

the media was mainly meant to serve the wishes and whims of those on power; it served

the respective ideological spheres.

The relative increase in the number of newspapers during imperial government

was good, but substantially decreased during the military government. However, there

have recently been improvements both in number and practice of media use with the

introduction of dual ownership system by the incumbent government and the private

press for the first time in the nation’s history. Most of the political discourses have been

done on this fact.

Certainly, the current government has introduced the private media and I believe

it is worth telling. This is because the landmark event in the history of the press in

Ethiopia began after the coming of EPRDF (EPRDF, 2001). Put it the other way, the

press in Ethiopia, consequently, has been put in the constitutional frame and this brought

dual ownership system for the first time in the nation’s history, and the

constitutionalization of the freedom of the press is a good step forward in the

democratization process.

Nevertheless, the government has not granted complete freedom of press media

and has kept its eyes on the practice of media. There is great hostility and acute

polarization between government and private media. The government has not also

granted license for private television and radio agencies. Further, the lack of professional

knowledge about the practice and ethics of media from both media types have affected

the development of the media to a greater extent. There seems to be a suspicion from the



92

government side to grant license for private electronic media stations as the former is not

confident on the private media’s self-regulation.

The government media is also less critical about government policy and agenda.

The lack of independent media council is still a problem to proper media management

and organization. Finally, the media discourses are also focused on the forgoing

litigations and debates. As most of the media discourses and political dynamics in

Ethiopia revealed, the media practice and its history since the imperial time have been

imperiled by political influence. Some scholars, however, believe that there are positive

developments in the current government, but yet to work on the full independence of the

media. Generally, the present study depicts that the media control system and ownership

style, lack of professionalism and the economic level of the nation have their thumbprints

on the overall development of the media and politics in Ethiopia.

7. Recommendations

The Ethiopian media has gone through a number of challenges over the last three

regimes in the country. The major challenge in the media is the polarization of views

from which most of the private media seemed to be organs of opposition parties and the

government media tends to be less critical in its news coverage. So the government has

to improve the present working condition of the media by giving professional freedom to

journalists and on the other hand the private media in its way must work to the direction

of ethical press which is governed by public interest.

Moreover, the distribution copies of the private and government newspapers are

by far low. Mainly, the limited financial sources of the private media to increase the

number of copies, the lack of better infrastructure for distribution of newspapers,

inexistence of printed press distributors in cities except in the capital and rarely in some

major cities, the lowest rate of literacy in the urban and mostly in rural areas are major

factors that affect the development of the print media in the country. Closely related to

this, the growing rate of the cost of publication and the increase in the price of paper and

ink are also said to be among the bottle necks in the development of the independent

media.

The radio has become the major source of news for rural citizens and the

uneducated, but the availability of radio, its price and energy costs have been major

determinants. As internet or online media has become part of the public sphere, the

readership of print media would tend to decline. This is because though the access to

internet and the literacy level is still low in Ethiopian society, there is a tendency for

literate and elitist to shift to online media along with many others who are shifting to

Satellite Television channels such as Arabsat, Nilesat, Eurosat, etc. This has a serious

risk for the media and politics in the country since these digital media pave the way to

cultural imperialism and electronic colonization despite the positive roles they play in

becoming alternative source of information and entertainment. Therefore, the present

regime should give more emphasis to address the above mentioned challenges towards

giving more freedom in establishing and encouraging vibrant media which can build the

growing democracy and national development endeavor in Ethiopia. Finally, the media

in the nation must be run by an independent media council and should exercise self

regulation.



93

Acknowledgements

First, I would like to praise God for all. Then, my heartfelt thanks goes to my

wife W/o Netsanet Derese, who has made me zealous to finish this study and provided

moral and financial assistance. I am quite indebted to my mother W/o Filfile Tessema,

my brothers and sisters who have provided me psychological support. I would like to

thank Ato Fantahun Tilahun and his wife W/o Muluwork for their moral support.

Finally, I am grateful to Hawassa University and the staff who supported me in different

ways when I conducted this study.

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